Degus Origin

In
the wild degus live in the Andes mountains in Chili. Halfway
the 18th century Europeans discovered the degu. They first thought
the degu was related to the squirrel, but later they found out
that the degu was related to the guinea pig, which also comes
from Chili. At first degus were imported to keep them in the
zoo, and for experimental purposes (degus are very sensitive
to diabetes, so they are ideal for experiments with diabetes).
Later on the degu was dicovered to be a nice pet.

In Chili degus are seen as a plague,
for they ruin farmers by eating their crops. In the wild degus
live in big groups, so there's not much of these crops left if
degus start eating them.